Ohio Task Force 1 leaves for North Carolina for Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence roared toward the Southeast as officials warned the more than 1 million people in its path to get out of the way or face its wrath.

The National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Florence is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge and rainfall to portions of the Carolinas and mid-Atlantic states.

This story was originally published about the threat of storm surge posed by Hurricane Irma.

As of 11am local time (3am NZT), Florence, a potentially catastrophic Category 4 storm, was centred 785 kilometres southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, moving at 24kmh.

Florence’s expanse has even captured the attention of the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station, who have been tweeting pictures of the storm back to Earth. A risky storm surge will come before the massive storm makes landfall late Friday or early Saturday.

Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued in coastal areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Florence this week, but many residents in the area have chose to stay.

“No one should enter the surf due to life threatening rip currents”, said a statement issued Wednesday morning by the weather service. It had maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour (215 kmh).

Hurricane-force winds (74 to 95 mph) are now extending out up to 60 miles from the center of the storm, and tropical-storm-force winds are being felt as much as 175 miles around the storm.

By Saturday, total rainfall could accumulate to 20 inches (51 centimeters)-or even 30 inches in places-in parts of the Carolinas and Virginia, the NHC said.

As Florence closed in, some residents weighed whether to ride it out. “Everyone was sold out”, she said.

A photo of George Brown, 90, is pinned to his shirt along with personal information before he is evacuated with fellow residents from a healthcare home in Morehead City, N.C., on Wednesday as Hurricane Florence approaches the east coast.

The adults packed irreplaceable items such as photo albums and heirlooms while the children stuffed their favorite toys, blankets and books in their bags.

“We’ve had some changes in the storms direction, some that are concerning us”, Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said Wednesday.

Some 7,000 guard members are ready to mobilize in North Carolina, while 1,100 will be activated in SC. He’s staying put – for now. “You feel like you should have already left”. North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said crops such as tobacco and corn are in midharvest while sweet potatoes, peanuts, soybeans and cotton are still in the field. Unsure of what they might find when they return home, the couple went shopping for a recreational vehicle. “We’re kind of at the mercy of the storm”.

After the storm surge comes the deluge of rain.

“Even the rescuers can not stay there”, he said.

The storm is still on track to make landfall in the coastal carolina region, but is starting to drift south. Officials say it is possible SC will bear the brunt of Hurricane Florence.

In Virginia, 245,000 coastal residents were ordered to evacuate including from the Eastern Shore, another popular beachfront destination. All lanes of Interstate 26 are westbound to allow more people to leave the coast and head inland toward the state capital of Columbia.

In a press conference on Monday, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said predations were made to accommodate 1 million people leaving the coast, a report by The State said.

In addition, a high-pressure ridge that’s parked over the East Coast is expected to prevent Florence from doing the typical swerve away from the Carolinas and also keep it stuck for multiple days once it reaches land.

At the time of landfall, the storm is forecast to be classified as a “hurricane”, with speeds between 74 miles per hour and 110 miles per hour.

McMaster ordered mandatory evacuation of coastal SC counties on Tuesday.